LE 65 - lots of mods and truly mint.

The time has come to sell by PERFECT coupe LE. I am doing a 55mile (round trip) daily commute and its costing too much on fuel. About 26mpg driving very carefully is just too thirsty for the miles I'm racking up.

Anyway - a rough price please?

1998 LE (number 65) Red.
Cat D (I have photos of the damage and its literally a heavy door and rear wing scrape)
Full respray (£1900) worth done about 6 months ago including refurbed wheels and resprated rocker cover.
Re-trimmed drivers bolsters with new foam inserts. Now A1.
GT28R and Pro-alloy FMIC
Lowered 30mm on Apex springs/Koni and Gas-a-just shocks
Greddy Profec B elec boost controller.
Polished fuel rail and plenum chamber
Brilliant tyres all round - Toyo T1-R 225 width.
Pagid pads all round.
3G rear discs
DBA 9-slot front discs
Wiring mod and Walbro fuel pump
Full service history

**EDIT - oh, also a new clutch and cambelt etc in the last few months**

What do you think?

James

No idea on price James but a very sad day, understandable though.

Oh and having seen this in the flesh at the recent Dyno Demon RR Day, I can confirm that it looks

It's a shame about the Cat "D" James, as it's probably one of the mintest ones on the forum after that re-spray. 5K?

Cheers gents.

Yes, I'm sad to be selling up but its time to move on and get a more sensible (and economical) car.

Yes, the Cat D bit is a shame. I'm not expecting top dollar (even though its in top dollar condition) but a sale in a few weeks would be good - rather than a few months. So I'd prefer to pitch the price right first time. Quite hard on this one.

James

i dont remember any pics being posted since all the work was done. your best place to sell would be here.

i think you would be lucky to get more than 5k with the cat d status outside of the forum. maybe a bit more on the forum.

Thanks jaip.

Thanks for your advice on the price.

I'll be giving it a good clean a polish this weekend and post up a proper ad.

I'm going to view a car tomorrow afternoon - Mondeo TDCi Zetec S. http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www...00&max_mileage=

James

Damn you're going to miss the coupe!

Yep

James

Me too

James what does that thing (mondeo) do to the gallon?

Cat D should normally take 10-15 percent off the value but with Fiats a its usually a little more nearer 25 percent.

If you feel the car not recorded would be worth 5k then I would say between 4-4.5 would be about right.

Good luck with the sale you will miss her

Come one James, keep it! You've spent a fortune on it! Look at if from a profit/loss point of view. Won't the money you save just offset the money you lose in the sale?

Diesel is expensive too! Surely you can get 30mpg if you drive at 70 to work? Also won't the mondeo depreciate like no tomorrow?

How long will you be doing this job for? What about LPG?

Oh dear I'm talking to myself again....

Couldn't agree more - I'm doing 100 miles per day and I will not part with LE 1162 (aka Stealth...) Don't do it!!!

DBP

I've seen this car pre repair, and to me the damage looked totally superficial, absolutely nothing to worry about, so much so, I may be interested!

Ben

sorry but what does cat d represent?

Oh and sorry to hear your leaving the fold!

Cheers for the input gents.

Yes, I'm thinking carefully as I casually look around.

@ Mottles - Cat D is the least serious class of write off. It just means the insurance company decided not to repair and pay out instead.

@ EDz - yes, thats about the price I had in my head.

@ Warnysouth - the thing (Mondeo) does 40-60mpg.

I'm going to change the chip my LE back to the std one (I'm only running base boost) and change the ECU temp sensor and thermostat. Then I'll give it a coupe of weeks to give me a few more mpg than I'm getting now.

If it behaves (i.e. I get 35mpg+) then I'll keep it, otherwise its off.

James

In that case James, I think it'll be going.

Unless you're doing a lot of distance work, I doubt you'll get 35+mpg.

Good luck in whatever direction you take mate.

Sorry to hear you have to sell your LE James

I'm in a similar situation with my Scoob. New daily commute is just over 50 miles and I'm getting between 26 and 28 mpg and thats driving like a grandad

I looked at a couple of the 130bhp Mondeo's and they were pretty good. 45mpg all day and pretty nippy for a big boat too.

Will decide what I'll do come the summer.

Good luck with your sale, having seen your last coupe, I know your LE will be absolutely immaculate

Check for rust at the bottom inner of all doors .. there's a known issue with the wrong sealant used at manufacture, reacted with the paint,3 + years later, all the doors rusted .

I had a 52 plate blue zetec s ... tuning box on it makes it move .. but 40 mpg was a rareity ( and only 52mpg on a 400 mile round trip at grandad pace pre tuning box )

Next to no toys in them, Ford were proper tight .. the zetec S is just 18s, sideskirts and different bumpers . .

If your used to LE seats, be prepared to change the cheap tat the mondeo has in it.. no support at all, the main reason I got rid .

Handle nice, and cracking gear change ..

Thanks for the input gents. Thats what I'm going to miss about this forum - lots of friendly help

Yes I'll give it my best shot and see what the old girl can do. I won't be making any rash decisions.

The car I looked at the other day was the right price (under 5k for a 2004 04 plate) but it had been 20k between services and and the engine sounded like a bag of spanners, even for a diesel. Smart looking car though.

James

James - I don't believe I'm reading this - 55 miles a day really isn't much (I'm doing over 80)

Lets work this out...

26mpg from the LE (lets call it 27.5 after you've done the thermostat and changed the chip) = 2 gallons per day = £10 per day

40 mpg (ish) for a Mondeo TDCI or similar = 1.375 gallons = £6.87 per day

So - the Mondeo will save you about £3.13 per day - £15.50 per week - £60 per month.

Do you REALLY want to sell your GORGEOUS Coupe just to save the equivalent of two cups of coffee a day?

Word.

x2. Don't sell James you Will regret it! I miss second gear in my coupe already

Diesel costs more than petrol too so the saving will be minimal unless you do a lot of miles - a different car could cost you oodles in unforeseeable maintenance, at least you know where you are with the LE so .....keep the coupe

James,

I am with Nigel here, whats going on?

If you do sell, don't get a mondeo. I had a new one as a loaner for a day last week and it is quite possibly the most repugnant piece of junk that I've ever had the misfortune to sit in.

James, I can't believe you're selling, and I doubly can't believe I'm thinking about buying your second coop from you too....

Edit : That is to say, I bought Jap's standard 20VT earlier this year and it's a peach considering the mileage and what I got it for.

Ok, ok....

I'm going to give this a real good shot - and see how many mpg I can get in the process.

I'm also aware that the coupe is pretty much at the bottom of its depreciation curve and unlikely to lose that much more value in the short term.

I've also gone off the idea of a Mondeo. But quite like the idea of a Golf Tdi or a Merc C220 now

I think I need a track day or something to make me fall back in love with the coupe again. Let's get an event organised.

James

James - where are you travelling to each day?

My daily commute is A51 to Lichfield, A5 to Tamworth, then the superb B4098 to Coventry. Its the last bit that screws my fuel consumption - one of the best bits of twisty B road in the Midlands - even the bikers use it.

If I go the boring way (M42, A45), its about 3 miles further, but its straight dual carriageway. It uses quite a bit less fuel.

Is your car Unichipped? If so, why not consider having a lean fuelling / low boost map. When my car was running lean, I got about 50 miles more per tank - it wouldn't have been good to give it full boost, but I always set it to base boost.

I have never seen more then 28 out of my coupe

Which I dont think is bad

James - just a suggestion for you (although you may struggle to get this one past Alison.

Current mpg = 28. 55 miles per day = 2 gallons. Multiply by 5 days a week and 48 weeks per year = 480 gallons per year = £2,400 per annum.

Flowed head, plus 3-angle valve grind, plus fitting - circa £1,000. When I had mine fitted, my miles per tank went from 250 to about 300. You should get a bit less of a benefit (as you're already over 300 miles per tank) - lets assume 30 miles per tank, or about 1 gallon (at your new consumption).

So - if your fuel consumption is down by say 10%, so will your costs. So your fuel bill will be down by about £240 per annum - payback in 4 years

Damn - that's not very helpful is it? The extra 30 - 50bhp might help the cause, but I don't see it helping the financials.

What about an LPG conversion? Cost circa £2,000 (to do it properly) - saving about 40%, so around £1,000 per annum - 2 year payback.

Nigel is always trying to convince people to go for head work what he fails to admit is that it will *increase* fuel consumption because you will want to boot it more often

You can DIY LPG it for < £1000 and at 55 miles a day you should recoop (scuse the pun) within a year?

Scott

There's no way a standard Coupe would ever do 43 mpg, so the headwork MUST have made a decent amount of difference

Another suggestion - get your injectors ASNU cleaned, my mpg improved significantly after I did this (a nice side effect that I wasn't expecting). BTW, I just happen to have a set for sale if you need to send a spare set off to get cleaned

Of course, but having the restraint to exploit it is another thing

Another option: 'the Kingpleb equation'

Zantia TD £500
Extra years insurance £350
Chip Fat 55p a litre (straight in the tank)

Same as the DIY LPG but saves the miles on your coupe.

Hi Gents and thanks for all the ideas.

I know that way to Coventry - a corker of a route along the B4098 if its the one that goes through Nether Whitacre etc - love that road!

I'm going to Kings Norton everyday. Its a (fairly) good clear A-road run at the time I leave the house (6.45am) and I'm usually there by about 7.20-7.25. A good 35 mins most days.

No, I'm not unichipped but I'm using base boost only (Greddy switched off) and I'm driving like a grandad.

I suppose I could speak to GrahamL nicely and ask him if he can make me up a "tight-wad" chip. As long as I'm not using much boost and barely over half throttle I suppose it might be possible.

What do you think?

James

Whats the point of having a 250+bhp coupe and driving it like that



Sell and get yourself an oil burner

The beauty of a Unichip is that you could use it to over-ride a G-Tec to create a low-fuel, low-boost setup.

However, I have a feeling that the ECU base maps would try and compenate and the learning feature would richen it back up again.

I assume you're going either through Shenstone / Four Oaks or maybe Mile Oak and Chester Road. Either way, you're trundling at 40-50, with lots of stops and re-starts (roundabouts, traffic lights etc). Frankly, I'm amazed that you're getting 28mpg. For that kind of driving, you'd really struggle to get more than 40mpg out of a diseasel.

I recommend you just sell a couple more bits per month on ebay - that will cover the £3 per day or so that you would have saved with an oil-burner.

I'm now spending £5,000 a year on fuel (which seeing as it comes from net pay, is actually taking an £8,000 bite from my gross salary). However, my plan of attack was to push for a promotion and a wage rise, which I've now got, so I'm happy (for now )

Keep the Coupe - you'll slide into the mire of mediocrity if you get rid.

James have you considered the LPG route? Its more than do-able for £1000 DIY if you are the kind of person who does things properly (which you are)....

It would pay for itself in a year.

Scott

@ Bezzer - thats my thinking really. If I'm not using the coupe for what it can do then I might be better off with a TDi Golf or something (which is currently the car I'm currently browsing for on autotrader).

@ Nigel - my route is Bassetts Pole, Minworth, A38M, through the underpasses, past B'ham Uni and then through Bournville village. Yes, suppose I'm averaging 40 over the whole journey. Ebay is a bit lean at the moment and I'm struggling for time to make the part up that I do sell. However, I am pushing for a promotion so that would help a bit.

@ Scott - yes, I'd seriously be interested in the LPG route. Its just that I remember Kingpleb seemed to have few issues with his engine after the conversion afterwards - 2 melted pistons as I remember - which puts me off a bit.

I have some thinking to do I think...

James,

I've recently looked into the LPG route quite a bit and spoken to Kingpleb about his conversion (see my other thread). He doesn't think the LPG killed his engine, he thinks it was shoving in a big turbo and a gtech2 without having the fueling checked killed it.

Personally I agree with JohnS - that it will probably work at reasonable boost levels but for 300bhp you would need to switch back to petrol or change stuff.

PM me if you want to talk more about it.

Scott

I'm a twonk - I read your workplace as Kingstanding, not Kings Norton - doh!

Its the fact that you're not maintaining a steady speed thats keeping the consumption up. Acceleration uses much more fuel and braking wastes it.

I have a feeling that an LPG conversion (and a Unichip to run an alternative map) will be great for everyday use, then turn off the gas and run on proper petrol for when you want to give it some beans.

I'd love to consider it, but there are no LPG stations anywhere near where I live. James - you would be fine, there are loads in Birmingham.

Well, I've given it a good go and I think I'm still selling.

I can get nearly 32mpg if I drive like an utter grandand. No noticable acceleration, 60mph on dual carriageways and predicting junctions. With that I'm fairly pleased.

TBH I just feel like a change and I wouldn't mind driving a car I can actially DRIVE rather than pootling around like an old git. I've been looking at the Mk4 Golf GTTdi's - 150bhp and 236lb/ft of torque. I'm liking them a lot. Nicely stylable and tunable (easily to 190bhp) and an easy 50-55mpg.

It would halve my fuel bill saving me about £120 a month. Money I could well do with at the moment tbh.

I'm going to be posting up an ad in the next couple of days.

I'm not too sad you know, and quite excited about the Golf.

James

The MkIV Golf is nice I'll grant you that and a nice set of wheels and a Carratere Grill can improve its looks dramatically. It's not a great drivers car TBH, but a rechip will give good performance whilst still returning good MPG.

Be sure you check your GTTDI 150 is truely a TDI 150, as many owners change the badges on the back, or de-badge them. I can't remember exactly but I think a GTTDI is 115bhp, GTTDI is 130bhp and the GTTDI is 150bhp.

So you might be buying a 115bhp that already been mapped to 140bhp but it's badged as a 150bhp car.

If you wanna check, lift up the carpet in the boot and there should be a white sticker stuck to the floor with the Kw output of the car printed on it.

Thanks daithi28 - good advice there.

James

James,

Can you car share with anyone? I've just cut my fuel bill in half by doing this.

And don't forget - if you have a Mondeo you'll only drive like a grandad anyway!!

Scott

Shame that James...

I always liked your car/s and seeing you and Ally at the odd meet here and there...

Either way, good luck with it.

I like those golfs too - and with things as they are i think alot of people might be heading the same way...

Save for a clutch if you remap a VAG TDI!

Not necessarily.....I had a 1.9 A4 TDI (130) chipped to 197 BHP & 420nm torque - ran beautifully on standard clutch, car had done circa 40k miles prior to remap on original clutch.

Thanks gents.

Yes, times are tight and I'm really getting quite excited about a different car. I've had coops for more than 4 years now which is a record for me by miles!

I'll always love em but I really like the idea of a nice Golf.

James